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A massive international email scam netted $3 million worth of top-secret US military equipment
Source: Quartz
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A massive international email scam netted $3 million worth of top-secret US military equipment
By Justin Rohrlich July 9, 2019
A crew of international con artists allegedly convinced a US defense contractor to send them millions of dollars worth of sensitive military gear they weren’t even supposed to know existed, according to court documents obtained by Quartz. Some of the items shipped to the fraudsters are not known to the public and are reportedly so top-secret, “even a photograph [is] considered controlled.”
The “highly sensitive communications interception equipment” was valued at $3.2 million, and requires a license to export out of the country. The manufacturer is named in legal filings only as “Company B,” based in Maryland. Members of the ring posed as a Navy contracting officer named “Daniel Drunz” to acquire the restricted technology.
Federal contracting trainer and consultant John Wayne II told Quartz the methods used by the alleged scammers were ones he encounters often, but that he has never seen reach this level. All told, the alleged ring made off with merchandise worth $10.6 million, including the $3.2 million in classified gear, far more than what stands to be gained from the workaday phishing attempts Wayne said government suppliers normally encounter. Those, Wayne explained, could result in a $20,000-$30,000 loss and often involve a few dozen hard drives or memory cards.
Along with the classified military communications equipment, the ring acquired $6.3 million worth of LG televisions and $1.1 million worth of Apple iPhones and iPads. The Department of Defense did not respond to a request for comment.
-snip-
A massive international email scam netted $3 million worth of top-secret US military equipment
By Justin Rohrlich July 9, 2019
A crew of international con artists allegedly convinced a US defense contractor to send them millions of dollars worth of sensitive military gear they weren’t even supposed to know existed, according to court documents obtained by Quartz. Some of the items shipped to the fraudsters are not known to the public and are reportedly so top-secret, “even a photograph [is] considered controlled.”
The “highly sensitive communications interception equipment” was valued at $3.2 million, and requires a license to export out of the country. The manufacturer is named in legal filings only as “Company B,” based in Maryland. Members of the ring posed as a Navy contracting officer named “Daniel Drunz” to acquire the restricted technology.
Federal contracting trainer and consultant John Wayne II told Quartz the methods used by the alleged scammers were ones he encounters often, but that he has never seen reach this level. All told, the alleged ring made off with merchandise worth $10.6 million, including the $3.2 million in classified gear, far more than what stands to be gained from the workaday phishing attempts Wayne said government suppliers normally encounter. Those, Wayne explained, could result in a $20,000-$30,000 loss and often involve a few dozen hard drives or memory cards.
Along with the classified military communications equipment, the ring acquired $6.3 million worth of LG televisions and $1.1 million worth of Apple iPhones and iPads. The Department of Defense did not respond to a request for comment.
-snip-
Read more: https://qz.com/1661537/us-defense-contractor-falls-for-3-million-email-scam/
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